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cover of episode Lost Women of the Manhattan Project: Carolyn Beatrice Parker

Lost Women of the Manhattan Project: Carolyn Beatrice Parker

2024/11/21
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Lost Women of Science
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Leslie Carolyn Edwards: 我是卡罗琳·帕克的侄女，她的故事激励着我。她来自一个非凡的家庭，在种族歧视严重的时代，她取得了非凡的成就。她在曼哈顿计划的Dayton项目中工作，从事高度机密的研究，这为原子弹的研制做出了贡献。尽管她的工作和贡献鲜为人知，但她对科学的热爱和追求始终如一。她后来进入麻省理工学院攻读博士学位，但不幸的是，由于接触放射性物质，她患上了白血病，最终未能完成学业。她的故事提醒我们，许多女性科学家在历史上被忽视，她们的贡献应该得到认可和纪念。 我的母亲非常敬佩我的姑姑，并因此给我取名为Carolyn。姑姑在物理学方面取得的成就，以及她对科学的奉献精神，都深深地影响了我的人生选择。我最终也获得了哲学博士学位，这不仅是对自身努力的肯定，也是对姑姑的致敬。 我致力于让更多人了解姑姑的故事，并为她争取应有的荣誉。最近，盖恩斯维尔的一所小学以她的名字命名，这让我感到非常欣慰。我经常去学校与孩子们分享姑姑的故事，让他们了解这位杰出的女性科学家。 George Maffoos: 我在Dayton项目工作期间，参与了钋的提取和研究。钋是一种放射性物质，是原子弹的触发器。在当时，钋的提取和研究非常困难，因为人们对它的性质知之甚少。我们团队在很短的时间内取得了显著的成果，这在当时是一个奇迹。然而，钋的放射性也带来了健康风险，许多工作人员都受到了不同程度的辐射影响。尽管我们采取了一些安全措施，但仍然很难完全避免接触钋。

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This episode is a tribute to Carolyn Beatrice Parker, a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. Her life and contributions are highlighted, especially in light of a recent elementary school renaming in her honor. The episode also reflects on the underrepresentation of women in science and the importance of remembering their contributions.
  • Carolyn Beatrice Parker worked on the Manhattan Project
  • She was a physicist.
  • An elementary school was renamed in her honor.

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Carolyn Beatrice Parker came from a family of doctors and academics and worked during World War II as a physicist on the Dayton Project), a critical part of the Manhattan Project) tasked with producing polonium. (Polonium is a radioactive metal that was used in the production of early nuclear weapons.) After the war, Parker continued her research and her studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but she died of leukemia at age 48 before she was able to defend her PhD thesis. Decades later, during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, citizens in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida voted) to rename an elementary school in her honor. November 18th would have been her 107th birthday.

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